For some time already, I put off writing about my ghostly experiences but I thought this would be a good time to do it as I am too free and bored from reading too much this afternoon.
These real life experiences are arranged chronologically.
EXPERIENCE NO. 1
As far back as in 1973, I went for my first bungalow stay with my best friend and her relatives from Sungei Patani. Most excited, I packed almost everything I thought I needed and lugged the heavy bag with me to this quaint looking bungalow at Penang Hill. (Sorry - cannot reveal the name in case I get into trouble with the owner.)
That night, after a fantastic dinner, the young teenagers huddled together in the bedroom trying to outdo each other with scary ghost stories. As the night grew darker, we sat closer to each other and soon had blankets wrapped around us as we hugged our pillows tightly while closing our eyes even more tightly while each one of us took turns to tell our tale.
And so this went on till about 1 a.m. despite several reminders from the adults who were not too pleased with our late activity and giggling not forgetting the occasional scream or two. Soon after we switched off the lights, we all went to bed, feeling even more spooked than when we were listening to the ghostly tales.
*Knock knock knock*
"Who's that?" my best friend asked.
No reply.
Very funny and we all laughed.
"Can someone go and see who is at the door?" she asked.
Of course NONE of us budged, each was waiting for the other.
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.* The knocks became more persistent and all the girls sat up, eyes wide open and with goose flesh all over.
This went on for some time and in the end, my friend shouted for her mother who came in a huff and a puff. After a brief explanation, we thought it could be the guys playing pranks on us till we discovered that the uncles were sleeping with the boys.
With that, we went back to sleep HUDDLED TOGETHER till the next morning. We interviewed the caretaker who did not answer any of our questions at all. Her silence spoke volumes and we left as quickly as possible the next morning.
EXPERIENCE N0. 2
Four years down the road, I went for another bungalow stay - a training camp to be exact, in a reputedly haunted bungalow that belonged to a foreigner whose son supposedly died while studying in the school where I was doing my sixth form!!!
We all laughed when we talked about the possibility that the place was spooked. But there was a certain eeriness in the hall where the photographs of the father and the son were placed. Somehow, the son had this piercing look in his eyes and it was almost as if the eyes were alive!!!
The first encounter occurred when we were playing in the playground after tea. One of my friends was sitting on the swing and then suddenly she swung up high in the air.
We gasped and scolded her for being so foolhardy as she could fall off the rickety seat, especially since she was quite roly-poly.
Most indignantly, she scolded one of the guys for pushing her and the poor guy proclaimed his innocence. We looked at each other, mouths agape. The guy was actually standing beside us and there was NO ONE standing behind my friend's swing.
SILENCE.
We were all rooted to the spot. Each did not dare to move. Neither did we dare to turn to our right or our left. When one of the girls screamed, all of us ran off to the sitting room and did not talk about it until much later.
That night, an air of mystery and expectancy surrounded us. Taking a bath was a terrible experience as there was no heater in the bathroom. It was very cold then in the late 1970's. Once we finished our bath, our teeth would be chattering and then the goosebumps could be seen on our arms.
After the last session of the workshop, it was lights out at 10.30pm and we all slept quite soundly.
At about 3 a.m., I felt my friend sneaking closer to me. We were sharing a bed in the dorm. Stirring from my sleep, I rubbed my eyes and asked why she was so close to me as I have claustrophobia. As soon as I finished speaking, the sound broke the still of the night.
Tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok
We looked at each other with horror in our eyes. Who on earth was playing table-tennis at that time of the night??????
Then only did we remember one of the tales that a senior had told us....The others also heard it but no one moved that night except for my friend and me....
Till today, we still talk about these two incidents during reunions. Perhaps some of my blog readers are well aware of which bungalow I am talking about. I cannot say too much lest it becomes too obvious.
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EXPERIENCE NO. 3
During my third trip to UK, I stayed in an old 19th century Victorian house that had been converted into a bed & breakfast place . I booked the place because it was centrally located in West End in proximity to the theaters where I wanted to watch a few musicals.
Besides, it was a five-storey building that looked like three-storey from the outside. To save money, I did not take a room with an en suite. The place was creepy.
I had to go to another floor to use the bathroom and up two floors to use the toilet. Gosh - all that to save 30 pounds!!!
The room was pretty basic and I felt most uncomfortable because there was a connecting door. In the middle of the night, I was rudely awakened by someone who was trying to open my room door.
Startled, I got up and went to the door to make sure that I had fastened the safety latch. To my horror, as I approached the door, I saw the door knob rattling and an echoing rattling sound coming from behind me!!!
I turned around and could not believe my eyes and my ears!!!!
Both door knobs were rattling at the same rhythm.
I jumped into my bed, covered myself from head to toe and trembled from fear as I confessed every single sin I had left unconfessed. Being alone, I had no choice but to wait until the next morning to request to change to another room.
The next morning, I looked at my luggage. It was in a different place. The key was in the correct place - right under my pillow. Strange. Getting up from my bed, I walked to my suitcase and opened it.
Horror of horrors. Everything in it had been rearranged!!!
I was so spooked that I quickly rushed to the bathroom, showered, packed and went down to the front desk and asked for another room.
And guess what happened? They changed me to a different room that had a horrible view of roofs and fire escapes. Fine. As long as there was no connecting door, or so I thought.
Walking into the room quite calmly, I placed my suitcase on my bed. I decided not to open the window and proceeded to unpack.
Out of the blue, a cold draught filled the room and it was especially strong at my feet.
I went cold with fear and ran out of the room, down the stairs and promptly checked out and took the next train out to London and went to Bath instead.
Until today, I can still hear the rattling door knobs in my brain - loud, rhythmical and most definitive.
Fortunately, the rest of my holiday in Bath, Lake District and Manchester was free of such ghostly encounters!
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EXPERIENCE NO. 4
The one and only holiday I had with my in-laws was at a golf resort somewhere....Upon arrival, my sister-in-law's family and mine were given adjoining chalets. As we entered the first one, I felt the creeps and opted to stay in the other unit.
The next morning, I saw my sister-in-law and her family looking a bit pale-faced.
"What happened?" I asked nonchalantly.
"Our bed shook for half an hour last night," she replied.
"Are you sure it was not the waves beating against the stilts?" I responded.
"And someone touched our feet once the shaking stopped," she added.
I asked her why she did not call us on our mobile and she said that they wanted to pray through the episode to test their faith.
*faint*
I guess I failed all tests of faith!!!
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EXPERIENCE NO. 5
My father passed away at 3 p.m. about 2 years ago. That night, I came home quite late. After my shower, I went downstairs for a drink. When I reached the foot of the stairs, I was rooted to the spot.
I caught a very strong whiff of my dad's presence.
You know - the smell of sweat mixed with Brylcream...The room felt strangely warm and I could sense the presence of another person in the room.
I did not dare to look to my right for it seemed as if he was sitting there with his head thrown backwards. Then the cuckoo clock sounded. Midnight.
I ran up the stairs and told my husband about it. Mr. Cool sauntered down the stairs and came back with nothing to report.
"It's the shock of losing your dad and also your imagination," was his calm retort.
A week later, I told both my boys not to be scared (look who's talking!!!) if they heard, smelled, saw or dreamt anything about their granddad as many Chinese believe that the departed soul will visit the home on the seventh day.
"Mom, I detected the smell of Ah Kong's hair on the first night after he passed away," said my older boy.
"Er...what time was that?" I asked, trying to maintain my composure.
"11.45p.m.or thereabouts," replied my boy.
Then I told him what had happened and so it was not shock or imagination. We believe dad really came back to see us and he loved my older boy the most. Thus, it was natural that he visited him first and then only me followed by my younger boy....Till today, we all miss him very much.
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I still have a few more tales to share but this has been quite a long post so I will stop here for now.
How about you, dear reader? Do you have any ghostly experiences to share with us? Do leave a comment if you like.
In the mean time, have a spooky oooooops I mean have a lovely evening :-)!!!
Richard Cranium We should all get on Skype conference call and have you and Andrea share some ghost stories in the dead of the night.